Valentin Madouas dreams of raising his arms in victory on the Tour, which he is riding for the sixth time in his career. About to turn 29 – his birthday falls on July 12 – the Breton rider has made this one of his goals for the 2025 edition and hopes to relive the emotions from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, when he finished second in the road race behind Belgian Remco Evenepoel. “When I see the medal at home, I feel so happy,” said the Groupama-FDJ rider.
Do you think you will ever experience again, on a bike, what you felt during the Paris 2024 Olympic road race?
I don’t think so, but I hope to be surprised. The Olympic Games were incredible, especially in France and in Paris! The race was magnificent. There are still great emotions to be found everywhere, and I hope to experience new magical moments, but I am not sure they will ever be as intense as during the Olympics.
One year later, what memories do you have of that event?
I was really focused on my race, concentrating on my effort, but even so, I was surprised by the enthusiasm. I expected to see a lot of people, but not that many. There was an incredible amount of noise − it was deafening in Montmartre − [and] you couldn’t even hear yourself talk. It was pretty wild, but I tried to block all of that out to go after that medal.
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